Preliminary Speaker’s Program

Day 1: Wednesday, May 10

10:00 -> Registration – Pick up badge at CERN reception

10:30 ->Welcome Greeting – Bruno Strasser and other core organizers

11:00 -> Keynote: “Why scientific knowledge is never enough: Official science, popular knowledge and DIY practice” – Dominique Pestre

12:30 -> Lunch

14:00 ->  – Connection of artists and scientist through DIYBio – George & Kristjian

14:30 -> The Accidental Biohacker – Bethan Wolfenden

15:00 -> Indie Drugs – Gabriela A. Sanchez, University of Geneva, CH

15:30 -> General Discussion

16:00 -> Coffee Break

16:30 -> Panel 1: Unruly Innovators – Joanna Steinhardt, UC Santa Barbara, US; Johan Soderberg, Goteborgs Universitet, SE; and Michael Laufer, Four Vinegar Thieves, US

Day 2: Thursday, May 11

09:30 -> ‘Science without Scientists’: DIYbiology and institutional leakeage – Massimiliano Simmons,  KU Leuven, BE; and Winnie Poncelet,  ReaGent, BE

10:30 -> Coffee Break

11:00 -> Citizen vs Science – Puneet Kishor, Open Science Advocate, US & IN

11:30 -> The Institutionalization of DIYbio – Ricardo Mutuberria, Genspace, US & ES

12:00 -> General Discussion

12:30 -> Lunch

14:00 -> Identity Exploration in Karkhana – Sabhyata Timsina,  Karkhana, NP

14:30 -> Do Something: DIYbio and the Hacker Spirit – Sarah Davies, University of Copenhagen, DK

15:00 -> We Are All Pragmatics Here: First Report on a Bay Area Survey of DIYbio Sites – Thierry Bardini, Universite de Montreal, CA

15:30 -> General Discussion

16:00 -> Coffee Break

16:30 -> Workshop 1: Tools for Policy Engagement – Aleksandra Berditchevskaia, TEIKU, DE; and Claudia Goebel, ECSA, DE

16:30 -> Unconference Workgroups: various

20:00 -> Review Policy Brief – Pieter van Bohemeen – The Waag Society, NL

Day 3: Friday, May 12 -> Different Locations!

09:00 -> Travel to Campus BioTech

09:30 -> Open source tools and assays for citizen science – Martin Malthe Borch, Biologigaragen, DK; and Gernot Abel, Novozymes, DK

10:30 -> Biohacking and Design : Challenges and Prospects – Raphael Kim, Queen Mary University of London, UK

11:00 -> Coffee Break

11:30 -> Biohacking Infrastructures: The [un]importance – Rosen Bogdanov, Open University of Catalonia, ES

12:00 -> General Discussion

12:30 -> Lunch

13:30 -> Travel to Confucius Institute

14:00 -> How Social Scientists research

14:30 -> Cross-cultural dialogues – Ana Maria Delgado, University of Oslo, NO; Marc Dusseiller, Hackteria, CH; and Sara Tocchetti, FR

16:00 -> Wrap up Conference part

Since the emergence of the DIYbio movement more than a decade ago, DIYbio has undergone profound transformations. DIYbio laboratories have opened in the Global South, some have entered into partnerships with the pharmaceutical industry, and others have become recognized institutions for science education. The DIYbio movement has been a space of revolutionary and conservative experimentation about how to connect the life sciences and society, challenging established modes of research (particularly sharing practices), embracing (bio)technological solutions (particularly genetic engineering) to social and environmental problems, and redefining the very meaning of innovation, with potentially far-reaching consequences on research practices, research funding, and expectations about research outcomes in academia and beyond.

We invite participants to present their work on DIYbio around (but not limited to) the following themes: the politics of pharmaceutical innovation; the transformations in intellectual property rights; the refashioning of the scientist’s public image; the critical BioDesign perspective, the new voices in technofeminism, the democratization of science and citizen science; the role of DIYbio in science education; the competition/collaboration with academic biology.

We welcome proposals of all formats, from classic talks, presentation of (mixed) media, to interdisciplinary workshops, roundtables and panels. The standard time allotted for each session is 30 min with at least 10-15 min for discussion (if you need more time, please ask).

Please send your proposal (single pdf file including format, authors, title, abstract up to 500 words, and any special needs) to Gabriela A. Sanchez <gabriela.sanchez@unige.ch>, the deadline has been extended to December 5, 2016. Applicants will be notified shortly of the review decision.

There is a limited amount of travel stipends for students presenting at the conference. If you would like to be considered, please explain why you are eligible in your application.